Voltcom Suzuki’s Alex Lowes has begun his World Superbike campaign in dominant fashion. The rookie excelled from the start of the second free practice sesson, and on his opening laps clocked a 1’31.644. With twenty minutes remaining, the Derby-based rider went five tenths of a second faster to extend his lead at the top of the timesheets, with a 1’31.100 on his tenth lap. However hard the rest of the pack tried , no one could out pace Lowes and he goes into the final free practice sessions tomorrow with a solid race pace under his belt.
Not far behind was team-mate Eugene Laverty. The Irishman was not going to let his younger, rookie colleague take all the spoils and kept up with the pace of the current MCE British Superbike champ. But he could not improve on his best 1’31.448, and had to end the final free practice outing of the day three tenths of a second behind the Lincoln born lad.
Aprilia’s Marco Melandri clawed his way from sixth up to second on the timing screens after 40 minutes of track time. He cruised to a 1’31.137, only one-three hundredths of a second slower than Lowes, but it was not enough to push him to the top.
But three quarters of the way through the session, the Suzuki’s had to contend with a charge from Ducati duo, Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano. The pair made their way up the timesheets setting laps consistently in the 1’31’s. But it was the Welsh rider, rather than the Roman who crashed. The Powys-based resident took a tumble at Lukey Heights and was taken to the medical centre, and ended the day in ninth. His Italian team-mate continued to go faster and improved to clinch his best lap of 1’31.205, which propelled him to third quickest.
Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes made a gradual progression this afternoon. He began by lapping in the 1’32’s then jumped from the mid-pack to sixth with a 1’31.941, with fifteen minutes of track time left. But in the final moments it looked like he could potentially topple Lowes from provisional pole, but all the reigning champ could manage was fourth, with a 1’31.395 best lap.
Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam was hovering just inside the top ten, but that was not going to last. He pushed his way into the top five with two minutes remaining with a 1’31’533. But he was soon out-done by team-mate Jonathan Rea, who went one tenths of a second faster. The Isle of Man’er rounds off the top five, with Haslam ending the day seventh, just one tenth of a second behind Laverty. Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli completes the top ten. Althea Racing’s Niccolo Canepa heads up the Evo class, with a 1’32.340, placing him twelfth overall.
With the track drying out, more riders took part in the last free practice session of the day, compared to the wash-out earlier this morning. There were a few absentees from today’s line up. Former MCE British Superbike rider Luca Scassa is still recovering from a pelvis fracture, and BMW Italia’s Sylvain Barrier is suffering from a micro fracture, also in his pelvis, meaning they both miss the start of the season.
Glen Allerton takes the place of crocked Barrier on the EVO machine. World Superbike stalwart Michel Fabrizio is still recovering from his injury, with all three crocked riders succumbing to crashes during pre-season testing this week at the track.
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